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Dead & Company at The NYCB Live at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum

By Mike Perciaccante

Dead & Company NYCB Live at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum The Fall Fun Run Tour Uniondale, NY November 5, 2019 With the former Nassau Coliseum smelling like a mixture of pot, patchouli and incense with the vast majority of the attendees wearing something featuring tie-dye colors, the latest incarnation of the Grateful Dead, Dead & Co. took the stage and delivered a concert that had the multi-generational audience dancing, acting out the tunes ...

Rastko Obradovic Quartet: The Northern Experience

By Chris May

Heads up. New kid on the block. Rastko Obradovic is a 24-year old Serbian saxophonist with bags of talent. He has his own voice, is a characterful composer and resourceful arranger, and sounds like he has what it takes to go the distance. Born and raised in Belgrade, Obradovic studied Jazz Performance at the Norwegian Academy of Music (NAM) in Oslo, graduating in 2017. The Northern Experience is his second release, following Wabi Sabi (AMP, 2018), an EP ...

Handel's Messiah 2019

By C. Michael Bailey

This is the best class of Messiah releases that I can recall in many years. All are imports and may take effort locating, but each of these has their own undeniable charm. Il caro Sassone rests easy. Hallelujah, indeed! Collegium 1704 & Collegium Vocale 1704, Vaclav Kuks Messiah Accent Records 2019 Crisp, brisk, and almost frantically presented, this Czech performance of Messiah stands as one with the greatest velocity on record, competing ...

Dor Herskovits: Flying Elephants

By Jerome Wilson

Drummer Dor Herskovits has been recording since 2017 as a member of the forward-thinking jazz group Earprint. His own quintet has a similar modern style but does more incorporation of older jazz traditions into its work. This group's music can be either raucous or dreamy and sometimes brings up refracted echoes of other players. On “Palette" pianist Issac Wilson and the leader sway together through a wispy melody like Paul Bley and Paul Motian accompanied by Hery Paz's ...

The Revolutionary Brotherhood of Giovanni Guidi and Fabrizio Bosso

By Antonio Baiano

Nguyen Le: Overseas

By Don Phipps

Robust and compelling, guitarist and composer Nguyen Le's Overseas continues his explorations of hybrid jazz—a jazz which combines traditional Vietnamese music with a personal style of jazzy soulful funk. Ancient instruments and urban rhythms collide, creating a kaleidoscopic musical mix that is at times hopping, like a busy Ho Chi Minh City avenue, and at times peaceful, like a morning sunrise over the ocean on an deserted tropical beach. Le composed the music as part of a performance ...

Enrico Rava: Around the Jazz World in 80 Years - The Leader Part -1

By Ludovico Granvassu

In advance of the long-overdue return of Enrico Rava to New York -where he will be taking part in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of ECM at Jazz at Lincol Center on 1 and 2 November—here is the first installment of an overview of the career of the grand master of Italian Jazz. Enrico Rava turned 80 this year and has had a five-decade long artistic path that paralleled and often intersected that of the label founded ...

Vilnius Jazz 2019

By Ian Patterson

Vilnius Jazz 2019 Russian Drama Theatre jny:Vilnius, Lithuania October 16-20, 2019 Is a jazz festival primarily about entertainment, or is it meant to challenge the expectations of its audience? Does programming risk mean financial suicide? What responsibility does a festival have to promote young, emerging talent? What place do women have in jazz today? How does jazz benefit from collaborations with other art forms? Does jazz carry a diplomatic passport, or should its practitioners ...

Take Five With Will Sellenraad

By Will Sellenraad

Meet Will Sellenraad Will Sellenraad has earned a fast growing reputation of being at the forefront of creative musicians working in New York City. Known for his brilliant improvisations and his compelling, melodic compositions, this New York City native melds the various styles, phrasings and concepts of the jazz idiom with the raw elements of soul, rock and funk, to create a singular sound that is nothing short of inspiring. Will has been active in New York since 1995 playing ...

Roberto Magris Sextet: Sun Stone

By Jack Bowers

Italian-born pianist Roberto Magris likes to change things up. He can be seen and heard leading groups from trio to octet and beyond, and meshing quite comfortably into groups of all shapes and sizes. On Sun Stone, his fifteenth recording for JMood Records, Magris fronts an admirable sextet whose front-line includes the venerable Ira Sullivan on flute, soprano and alto saxophones, and the superb tenor saxophonist Mark Colby, abetted by trumpeter Shareef Clayton, bassist Jamie Ousley and drummer Roldolfo Zuniga. ...

Blue Note Review 2 & Play a Game with DrJ, Newk & Lady Day

By Marc Cohn

It's Gifts and Messages show No. 400 from the studios of WHYR—how did that happen? To celebrate (but let's face it, we celebrate every week), we have a game for you: tunes written by famous saxophonists 'reimagined' in 2019—name the composer. We also have a start on listening to the Blue Note Review #2 collectors' box (highlighting the compositions of Tony Williams); Sonny Rollins with Trane from 1956; and songs associated with Billie Holiday. Enjoy the show! Sincere thanks to ...

Luca Aquino: Italian Songbook

By Nicholas F. Mondello

Given a stroke of sfortuna, trumpet players can encounter physically and psychologically debilitating facial injuries. Maladies such as embouchure overuse, lip muscle tears, trauma, dystonia and Bell's Palsy can disrupt or end careers. After a devastating bout with Bell's Palsy, obtaining the guidance of trumpet “Yoda," Bobby Shew, and undergoing a lengthy recovery, Italian trumpeter Luca Aquino has delivered Italian Songbook—an utterly brilliant and beautiful production. Aquino, fronting various-sized ensembles, offers a dozen sublime selections each emanating ...